Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Iron and Steel: Recycling

Baroness Redfern: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential of extracting valuable secondary materials from scrap steel.

Lord Benyon: Defra has not made a formal assessment of the potential of extracting valuable secondary materials from scrap steel.Through the critical minerals strategy, the Government is committed to accelerating the UK’s domestic capabilities and developing a more efficient circular economy for critical minerals in the UK.The flagship, four-year, £30m National Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Research Programme (NICER) is targeting funding to support innovation in advanced metal sorting techniques to promote a circular economy for metals.Also, Innovate UK’s Circular Critical Materials Supply Chains (CLIMATES) programme is committing £15 million towards recycling critical minerals through R&D investments, skills and engagement with international partners.Our forthcoming document “Maximising Resources, Minimising Waste” will also consider how best to prevent waste in several key economic sectors, including construction, and we are working with groups such as the Green Construction Board to realise those ambitions.

Animal Welfare: Prosecutions

Baroness Hayman of Ullock: To ask His Majesty's Government how many prosecutions have been brought under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 in each of the last three years, in relation to the creation or sharing of online content relating to animal welfare.

Baroness Hayman of Ullock: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to extend the application of existing animal welfare offences to content shared on or otherwise facilitated by regulated internet services.

Lord Benyon: Animal cruelty in England and Wales is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. Similar legislation is in place in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The Sentencing Council recently updated its sentencing guidelines for animal cruelty offences under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. The guidelines include ‘use of technology to record, publicise or promote cruelty’ as an aggravating factor for animal cruelty offences under sections 4-8 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006. The guidelines specify that this includes circulating details/photographs/videos etc of the offence on social media. There is no central recording of the use of such factors in sentencing. The number of prosecutions in England and Wales for animal cruelty offences under sections 4-8 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 for the last three years for which we have full data is set out in the table below:  201920202021Prosecutions under sections 4-8 of the Animal Welfare Act 20061719949965 Depending on its nature, digital transmission of animal cruelty content may be an offence under different legislation, such as (but not exclusively) the Obscene Publications Act 1959 and the Communications Act 2007.

Department for Business and Trade

Exports: Serbia

Baroness Helic: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Offord of Garvel on 5 July (HL8206) regarding UK Export Finance support for exports to Serbia, what steps they are taking to ensure that Serbian entities comply with end user certificate requirements in respect of UK exports to Serbia.

Lord Offord of Garvel: UK Export Finance has not supported any exports to Serbia that are subject to UK export licensing requirements. UKEF is committed to high standards of environmental, social and human rights risk management. When considering support to projects UKEF undertakes due diligence on all relevant aspects, including environmental, social and human rights, climate change, and antibribery and corruption measures.

Companies: Loans

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to implement stricter regulatory frameworks to discourage the formation and support of “zombie” companies that avoid bankruptcy only through cheap borrowing.

The Earl of Minto: By their nature, so-called "zombie" companies do not present as such at the point of incorporation. It is primarily for banks and other lending institutions to consider the risks in lending to companies whose ability to repay debt may be in doubt. The UK maintains a robust regulatory regime over lending as well as a transparent company register framework which helps facilitate the flow of capital towards productive companies.

Cabinet Office

Private Members' Bills

Lord Grocott: To ask His Majesty's Government howmany private members’ bills starting in (1) the House of Commons, and (2) the House of Lords, have received Royal Assent since the 2019 general election.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: Details on how many private members' bills starting in both the House of Commons and House of Lords from the 2019 General Election to the 2021-22 session are available on the Parliament website at: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn04568/. In the current parliamentary session the following private members' bills have reached Royal Assent: Bill titleHouse of introductionBallot Secrecy BillLordsCarer’s Leave BillCommonsChild Support Collection (Domestic Abuse) BillCommonsCo-operatives, Mutuals and Friendly Societies BillCommonsElectricity Transmission (Compensation) Bill (formerly Electricity and Gas Transmission (Compensation) Bill)CommonsEmployment (Allocation of Tips) BillCommonsMobile Homes (Pitch Fees) BillCommonsNeonatal Care (Leave and Pay) BillCommonsOffenders (Day of Release from Detention) BillCommonsPensions Dashboards (Prohibition of Indemnification) BillCommonsProtection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) BillCommonsShark Fins BillCommonsSupported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) BillCommons In addition, the following private members' bills are awaiting Royal Assent. These bills originated in the House of Commons: Child Support (Enforcement) BillEmployment Relations (Flexible Working) BillEquipment Theft (Prevention) Bill

China: National Security

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to initial a debate in the House of Lords on the threat to UK security from the People’s Republic of China, particularly given the findings of the Report of the Intelligence and Security Committee, published on 13 July.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: HM Government is considering each of the recommendations and conclusions in the Intelligence & Security Committee’s report on China and will publish a full response to the report in due course, as per the Memorandum of Understanding agreed between the government and the committee.

Public Expenditure

Lord Weir of Ballyholme: To ask His Majesty's Government whatthe net fiscal transfers in public expenditure were for each region of the UK for each of the last five years.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority. The Lord Weir of BallyholmeHouse of LordsLondonSW1A 0PW19 July 2023 Dear Lord Weir, As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what the net fiscal transfers in public expenditure were for each region of the UK for each of the last five years (HL9356). The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes an annual article named Country and Regional Public Sector Finances [1], which provides regional estimates of public sector expenditure, revenue, and net fiscal balance. The ONS does not currently have any regional net fiscal transfer data available but does produce measurements of net fiscal balance. The Country and Regional Public Sector Finances publication includes net fiscal balance information on an International Territorial Level 1 (ITL1) basis. Net fiscal balance measures the difference between public sector expenditure and public sector revenue - a negative net fiscal balance represents a surplus, meaning a country or region is receiving more in revenue than its expenditure. A positive net fiscal balance represents a deficit, meaning a country or region is undertaking more expenditure than it is receiving in revenue. There are two different measures of net fiscal balance depending on the measure of tax revenue derived from North Sea oil and gas, one based on the geographic location of oil and gas producers shown in Table 1, and one based on population shown in Table 2. The two tables show the net fiscal balance by country and region using these two different methods. Yours sincerely,Professor Sir Ian Diamond [1] Country and Regional Public Sector Finances Table 1: Net fiscal balance by country and region in the UK between financial year ending (FYE) March 2018 and FYE March 2022, in £ millions. North Sea oil and gas revenue measured on a geographic basis.Country or regionFYE 2018FYE 2019FYE 2020FYE 2021FYE 2022North East10,62610,51011,47821,01014,620North West23,06521,69523,35448,01930,362Yorkshire and the Humber12,21511,39712,48931,23017,926East Midlands7,2345,5037,68524,68412,504West Midlands14,15816,42418,04937,44625,994East of England-2,999-3,951-2,26720,9452,399London-33,906-39,869-37,3646,545-37,942South East-18,258-21,028-19,30815,420-13,949South West6,6825,0656,39527,77612,164England18,8175,74720,511233,07364,076Wales14,59814,12514,69225,64120,298Scotland15,69914,21115,39336,40123,783Northern Ireland9,80210,18510,68217,50813,941United Kingdom58,91644,26761,279312,623122,099Source: Country and Regional Public Sector FinancesTable 2: Net fiscal balance by country and region in the UK between financial year ending (FYE) March 2018 and FYE March 2022, in £ millions. North Sea oil and gas revenue measured on a population basis.Country or regionFYE 2018FYE 2019FYE 2020FYE 2021FYE 2022North East10,60210,41011,36220,90214,568North West22,92721,55623,26747,94630,079Yorkshire and the Humber12,18211,25112,37231,10717,755East Midlands7,1565,4087,62724,63212,319West Midlands14,04316,31717,99137,40025,758East of England-3,104-4,075-2,34220,8802,157London-34,080-40,029-37,4506,475-38,292South East-18,431-21,200-19,40515,340-14,314South West6,5854,9566,32727,71411,949England17,8804,59519,749232,39461,977Wales14,53714,06914,66225,61720,175Scotland16,73415,45316,20337,11926,080Northern Ireland9,76510,15110,66417,49313,866United Kingdom58,91644,26761,279312,623122,099Source: Country and Regional Public Sector Finances  UK Statistics Authority (pdf, 133.9KB)

Department for Transport

Shipping: Russia

Lord West of Spithead: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byBaroness Vere of Norbiton on 19 July (HL9306), what assessment they have made of whether the ships of the Russian Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research are responsible for surveys and operations involving seabed infrastructure.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: The Department for Transport has not commissioned such an assessment. Any such assessment would fall within the remit of the Ministry of Defence.

Ministry of Justice

Prisoners: Children

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Bellamyon 17 July(HL8979) on primary caring responsibilities, when they plan to publish findings from the Better Outcomes through Linked Data programme.

Lord Bellamy: The Better Outcomes Through Linked Data (BOLD) Programme is funded until March 2024. Findings will be published by the end of the Programme.

Pre-sentence Reports: Pilot Schemes

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the pilot, launched in March 2021, with 15 magistrates’ courts, involving the Ministry of Justice, HMCTS and the probation service, of an alternative delivery model to increase the number of cases receiving pre-sentence reports.

Lord Bellamy: The Pre-Sentence Report (PSR) Pilot tested an Alternative Delivery Model for PSRs in 15 magistrates’ courts’ and concluded in March 2023.Monitoring data collected during the pilot revealed that pilot courts delivered a higher proportion of PSRs per in-court disposal than non-pilot courts, including for each of the priority cohorts (young adults aged 18-24; women; offenders at risk of short-term custody). We also conducted a process evaluation to explore how the Alternative Delivery Model was implemented, including identifying any benefits, challenges, or unintended outcomes. The process evaluation was published on 15 June 2023 (Process evaluation of the Pre-Sentence Report Pilot - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)) and has found that:Participants generally support the targeting of priority cohorts with views that this has led to appropriate support for vulnerable groups but were keen to ensure there was flexibility in the model to allow for professional judgement.Probation staff largely support the virtual training which was offered as part of the pilot.However, the levels of implementation and buy-in for the Alternative Delivery Model varied across court sites, which appeared to relate to existing ways of working between stakeholders. The pilot also took place during a significant period of change, with the Covid-19 pandemic and re-unification of the Probation Service impacting resourcing and delays in court, and therefore our ability to embed and evaluate the Alternative Delivery Model in the most efficient way.Findings from the pilot have shown some successful elements of the Alternative Delivery Model that we will now integrate into national delivery. This includes rolling out a refreshed training package for probation staff in court across England and Wales and rolling out the processes for the early identification of cases that would benefit from a PSR.

Legal Profession: Artificial Intelligence

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to introduce regulations to help legal professionals, including those working in both in-house legal teams and law firms, adapt to the influence of generative artificial intelligence in the legal profession.

Lord Bellamy: In March, the Office for Artificial Intelligence (OAI) published a white paper which set out a principles based, pro-innovation approach to regulating AI. This would be delivered through the UK’s established regulators operating in their existing remits and sectors. The OAI have been working with expert stakeholders to develop guidance for businesses on the types of skills and knowledge that non-technical employees need to use to interact with AI. The guidance, which will be published later this year, will enable employers to identify skills gaps and training needs within their business. This will then be developed into a detailed framework for training providers to design courses meeting such business needs.Legal Services regulation is independent of Government and overseen by the Legal Services Board (LSB). The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is working closely with the OAI and LSB to support legal regulators to implement the proposed approach. The MoJ sees the adoption of technology in the delivery of legal services as vital to the continuing success of our world-renowned legal sector. We support the growth of the lawtech sector through the LawtechUK programme, in which we are investing £3 million from April 2023 – 2025.

Victims' Commissioner: Public Appointments

Baroness Gohir: To ask His Majesty's Government when the newVictim’s Commissioner will be appointed; and what is the reason for the delay in recruitment.

Lord Bellamy: A recruitment campaign to appoint the next Commissioner is underway and it is right that the new Lord Chancellor looks at this carefully. We hope to announce the outcome of the campaign as soon as possible.At both Ministerial and official level, we engage with the victims’ sector on a regular basis to ensure the voices of victims and witnesses are heard while the appointment of the next Victims’ Commissioner is being made.

Private Prosecutions

Lord Stone of Blackheath: To ask His Majesty's Government whatassessment they have made of the trends in the funding of private prosecutions; and what steps they are taking to ensure that privately-funded prosecutions are not misused in ways that are counter to the public interest.

Lord Bellamy: Under s.17 of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 the court has the power to order the payment from central funds of such amount as the court considers reasonably sufficient to compensate the prosecutor for any expenses properly incurred by them in the proceedings.Responsibility of assessing claims and administering payment of criminal claims out of central funds for work done in the magistrates’ court and Crown Court are assessed by the Legal Aid Agency’s (LAA) Criminal Cases Unit (CCU) unless the court summarily assesses the claim under s.17(2B) of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985.Information about central funds expenditure, including private prosecutions, is published on a quarterly basis within the LAA’s official statistics. The statistics provide useful management information to inform policy and legislative changes. A copy of the relevant data is attached.The Justice Select Committee (JSC) considered safeguards in private prosecutions in 2021. They found that private prosecutions are rigorously tested, and weak ones filtered out. The Government agrees that, in most cases, existing safeguards work to prevent private prosecutions being misused.In accordance with recommendations set out in the JSC report a private prosecutions register has been established for the magistrates’ courts in England and Wales. This enables the court or an authorised legal adviser, deciding whether to issue a summons to commence proceedings, to identify whether an application has already been determined or has been made by a vexatious litigant so that it can, where appropriate, be refused expeditiously.The Criminal Procedure Rules have been amended so that they list the circumstances in which magistrates’ courts may refuse to issue a summons. The rules now also require summonses that are issued on the application of a private prosecutor to identify the prosecutor. This is intended to make it easier for defendants to refer their case to the Director of Public Prosecutions to consider taking over the case under s.6(2) of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985.As set out in its response to the JSC report, the Government is committed to introducing legislation to limit the amount of costs a private prosecutor can recover from central funds, mirroring the arrangements already in place for private paying defendants, where recoverable costs are capped at legal aid rates.HL9375_table (xlsx, 31.4KB)

Prisons: Travellers

Baroness Whitaker: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the findings of The Traveller Movement's report Available but not Accessible Romany Gypsies and Irish Travellers: barriers in accessing purposeful activities in prison, published on 27 March.

Lord Bellamy: As part of the HMPPS Gypsy, Roma & Traveller (GRT) Strategy, we are committed to fully considering the Traveller Movement Report ‘Available but not Accessible’. This activity is ongoing, and will include consultation with the Traveller Movement, and potentially, other GRT-associated third sector organisations.The associated action plan will be updated to incorporate necessary activity in association with further HMPPS evidence-based assessments also currently under consideration. The review is expected to be fully completed by Autumn 2023.

Pre-sentence Reports

Baroness Whitaker: To ask His Majesty's Government what are the latest available figures for the (1) number, and (2) method of delivery, of pre-sentence reports in courts in England and Wales.

Lord Bellamy: Data on pre-sentence reports in England and Wales is published in the Ministry of Justice’s quarterly Offender Management Statistics Bulletin. The latest published data is for October to December 2022. In this latest quarter there were a total of 21,771 pre-sentence reports (PSRs) produced. The breakdown in terms of method of delivery was as follows: 1,013 Standard PSR15,338 Fast Delivery PSR Written5,420 Fast Delivery PSR Oral In 2022 overall, there were a total of 83,240 pre-sentence reports produced. The breakdown in terms of method of delivery was as follows:3,561 Standard PSR58,375 Fast Delivery PSR Written21,304 Fast Delivery PSR Oral

Offenders: Transgender People

Lord Blencathra: To ask His Majesty's Government whatassessment they have made of thereported findings of the study commissioned by the Ministry of Justice, due to be published later this year, thatmale sexual offenders were twice as likely to claim to be transgender in order to access women’s prison units compared with men jailed for other types of offences.

Lord Blencathra: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the reported findings of the study commissioned by the Ministry of Justice, due to be published later this year, what steps they are taking to prevent male offenders from seeking moves to the female prison estate due to faking their claims to be female.

Lord Bellamy: The Ministry of Justice and His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service take the allocation of transgender women in custody very seriously. The study in question concerns the lived experience of transgender women in two men's prisons. None of the participants stated that their motivation was to access the women’s estate, and the preliminary findings of the research did not suggest that any of the participants were motivated by this.Most transgender women in custody do not request a move to the women’s estate, and of those that do, most are not granted a move. As a result, well over 90% of transgender women in custody are held in the men’s estate.In February of this year, we strengthened our policy so no transgender woman who has been convicted of a sexual or violent offence, and/or who retains birth genitalia, can be held in the general women’s estate. Exemptions to this rule can only be considered for the most truly exceptional of cases, and each case must be risk assessed by a multidisciplinary panel of experts and signed off by a minister before the individual can be held in the women’s estate.

Treasury

Travel: Insurance

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that travel insurance companies provide cover for travel cancellations due to heatwaves, given their rising incidence and intensity, and the risks to the health of travellers.

Baroness Penn: The Government does not prescribe the terms, conditions or price that insurance companies may set when offering insurance, including travel insurance. As travel insurance policies differ, customers should speak to their insurer or check the terms and conditions of their policy.  Travel insurers must treat customers fairly and are required to do so by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Import Duties

Viscount Waverley: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the factors contributing to the increase from the previous year’s collections in customs duty revenue as published in HMRC accounts for 2022–23.

Baroness Penn: As set out in HMRC published accounts, 2021/2022 total customs duty was c.£4.8billion and c.£5.5billion in 2022/2023. This represents an increase of c. £0.7billion in duty collected. The collection of customs duty revenue depends on a range of factors, such as the customs duty rates applied, overall volumes of imports, and the value of those goods imported. His Majesty's Government will continue to monitor the collection of customs duty revenue.

Parcels: Customs

Lord Weir of Ballyholme: To ask His Majesty's Government why the provisions of the Postal Packets (Miscellaneous Arrangements) Regulations 2023, including additional functions for HMRC and Border Force, do not apply to movement of packages within the UK, other than between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, for matters such as hazardous materials.

Baroness Penn: As part of the Windsor Framework the UK Government has committed to managing risks to the EU Single Market as well as securing Northern Ireland’s place in the UK internal market. Under current arrangements, for a limited category known as ‘prohibited and restricted’ goods, customs declarations have been required since 2021 for movements from Great Britain into Northern Ireland.

Trader Support Service

Lord Dodds of Duncairn: To ask His Majesty's Government what aretheir criteria for assessing tenders for running the Trader Support Service.

Lord Dodds of Duncairn: To ask His Majesty's Government against what criteria was it agreed that they should audit the provision of the Trader Support Service at the time the tender was awarded.

Baroness Penn: HMRC’s followed its standard evaluation award criteria for Trade Support Service (TSS) which split it into the following 2 areas including the weighting of each:Quality (80 per cent weighting)Price (20 per cent weighting)The quality measures were around the Design of Service ‘Build’, Live Service ‘Run’ – declaration system availability/fix incident response times etc, Capacity, SME (Subject Matter Expertise) - skills knowledge and capability eg Tariff/Comm Codes, Ability to mobilise and Exit Approach.

Parcels: Northern Ireland

Lord Weir of Ballyholme: To ask His Majesty's Government how many postal packages sent from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, in the most recent year available for which figures are available, were from (1) an individual to an individual, (2) a business to an individual, and (3) a business to a business.

Baroness Penn: It is not possible to give precise total values for parcels movements from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. Parcel volumes are not consistent year-on-year but based on estimates and commercial information provided by the parcel industry, the Government understands that around 5 per cent of parcels are sent from businesses to other businesses, with 90 per cent moving from businesses to consumers and 5 per cent from individuals to other individuals.

Trader Support Service

Lord Dodds of Duncairn: To ask His Majesty's Government how many tender applications for the provision of the Trader Support Service were received.

Baroness Penn: Four tender responses were received for the provision of Trader Support Service.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Fossil Fuels: Investment

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they aretaking to encourage investors to support (1) climate resolutions, and (2) sustainable investment practices, particularly in sectors heavily reliant on fossil fuels.

Lord Callanan: The 2023 Green Finance Strategy set out several actions the Government is taking to support sustainable investment practices. These include a commitment to consult on a UK Green Taxonomy later this year; setting out next steps for transition planning disclosure requirements for the largest UK companies; and providing further detail on the Government's response to using International Sustainability Standards in the UK.

Agriculture: Energy Supply

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty's Government whatsteps they are taking to upgrade three-phase power supply to support British farmers with the uptake of renewables.

Lord Callanan: The regulatory framework for investment in and connections to the electricity network is the responsibility of Ofgem. For connection applications from 1 April 2023, Ofgem has removed the requirement for demand connection customers to contribute to any distribution network reinforcement costs, this would include installing onsite generation on a farm below its maximum demand. For generation in excess of maximum demand for a site, Ofgem has reduced the network reinforcement contribution required.Connection customers must fund upgrades to a three-phase connection cable, however an Independent Connection Provider can provide this which can reduce costs.

Department of Health and Social Care

Embryos: Research

Lord Moylan: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps theyare taking to ensure the "special status” of the human embryo continues to be upheld in any decisions related to human embryo research; and whether they will make an assessment of the recentHuman Fertilisation and Embryology Authority consultation, in particular given that it omitted any mention of the protected “special status” of the embryo or any related ethical considerations.

Lord Markham: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has advised that any decisions related to human embryo research are undertaken in accordance with the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 (as amended). The Government asked the HFEA to undertake a stakeholder dialogue to identify priorities for modernisation of the Act in 2021, and the report of this work is not expected to be completed until autumn 2023.

Eating Disorders: Health Services

Baroness Merron: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Markham on 17 July (HL8936), when updated guidance will be available from NHS England; how the "transformation" of adult eating disorder (AED) services will be defined and its effectiveness assessed; and by what date integrated care systems will be expected to have transformed AED services.

Lord Markham: To support services to plan and implement improvements, NHS England has developed a community mental health roadmap intended to set out the different elements which make up the delivery of the NHS Long Term Plan commitments on community mental health transformation, including eating disorders. A transformed adult eating disorder service is defined as:- Specialist teams that are able to provide support to a spectrum of severity and different types of eating disorders;- Able to embed lived experience in service development and delivery;- Supporting early intervention using models such as First Episode Rapid Early Intervention for Eating Disorders (FREED) and not employing body mass index or weight thresholds;- Working with primary care to provide clear arrangements for medical monitoring;- Working jointly with children and young people’s services, particularly to support smooth transitions; and- Able to accept self-referrals and referrals from primary care and voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations. NHS England routinely monitors performance returns from integrated care systems to track progress against these deliverables.Since April 2021, all integrated care systems have received fair-share funding to transform their adult community mental health services, including eating disorders, with the expectation that all will have transformed adult eating disorder services in place by March 2024.

Diseases: Pollution and Urban Areas

Baroness Merron: To ask His Majesty's Government what long-term strategy they are using to ensure that people living in cities and high polluting areas are not at increased risk of life-threatening illnesses, including lung cancer.

Lord Markham: In 2021 the Government passed the Environment Act, which established a legally binding duty on the Government to bring forward air quality targets, in secondary legislation, focused on reducing the impact of air pollution on the public’s health. Following consultation, two new targets were set earlier in 2023: to reduce population exposure to PM2.5 by 35% in 2040 compared to 2018 levels; and to require a maximum annual mean concentration of 10 micrograms of PM2.5 per cubic metre (µg/m3) by 2040.The Environmental Improvement Plan, published on 31 January 2023, set out the steps the Government intends to take to improve the environment and established additional interim targets to drive action in the shorter term. The plan reflects the fact that the greatest amount of air pollution within the United Kingdom is generated in urban areas.

Medical Treatments

Lord Blencathra: To ask His Majesty's Government whether Market Authorisation Holders set different (1) Key Performance Indicator measurements, and (2) clinical pathways, for the same therapy.

Lord Markham: Marketing Authorisation Holders (MAHs) are encouraged to use the national Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) published in the Royal Pharmaceutical Homecare Services Handbook 2014 in their contracts with homecare providers. MAHs may also use additional or alternative specific KPIs where they consider this necessary. Neither NHS England nor National Health Service trusts are directly party to those contracts between MAHs and homecare providers, and therefore do not have visibility of the KPIs agreed in each case.The treatment choice is determined by the clinician in the hospital trust in conversation with the patient, based on the best available evidence and cost-effectiveness aligned to national and local guidance where available. The homecare medicines service provider is contracted to undertake supply and delivery, and administration in some cases. The homecare medicines service provider does not determine the clinical pathway.

Home Care Services: Prescriptions

Lord Blencathra: To ask His Majesty's Government how many NHS hospitals have issued prescriptions to homecare providers (1) 10 or more days before the delivery is due, (2) between 10 days and the delivery date, and (3) after the delivery was supposed to be made.

Lord Markham: This information is not collected centrally by NHS England or the Department. Each individual trust may or may not collect this data depending on the contracted Key Performance Indicators.

Home Care Services: Standards

Lord Blencathra: To ask His Majesty's Government what are the Key Performance Indicators for homecare providers; and what is the actual level of performance against those indicators for each homecare provider, for the latest period for which data are available.

Lord Markham: Appendix 10 of the 2014 Royal Pharmaceutical Society handbook contains the Key Performance Indicators for Homecare Medicine service providers. A copy is attached.Providers of Homecare Medicines services operate in a highly regulated environment with obligations to record and monitor quality metrics, including any trends. To monitor industry trends, providers provide the same data set to the trade association, the National Clinical Homecare Association (NCHA), allowing for the aggregation of all providers metrics. The NCHA report that the delivery performance of providers (delivery to patients on the agreed date) was 99.0% in 2020, 98.6% in 2021 and 98.8% in 2022. Formal complaints and incidents are also monitored and the data shows that the percentage of complaints raised was 1.4% in 2020, 1.6% in 2021 and 1.8% in 2022 of active patients. This refers to complaints opened, not upheld.Attachment (xlsx, 345.0KB)

Prescription Drugs: Addictions

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of long-term and permanent harm caused by the use of benzodiazepines, Z-drugs and antidepressants.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to conduct a review of efficacy, safety and risk of addiction relating to the long-term use of benzodiazepines.

Lord Markham: The safety of medicines on the United Kingdom market are continuously monitored by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). There are currently no plans to conduct any further reviews into the harms associated with benzodiazepines, Z-drugs and antidepressants, however, any new data would be carefully considered. Details about the possible risks and side effects are outlined in the product information available for each medicine.Benzodiazepines and Z-drugs are authorised for short term use, two to four weeks, and should not be used long term due to the risk of dependence and subsequent withdrawal reactions. Healthcare professionals have been reminded of these risks by the MHRA, the Department and professional bodies which have highlighted the extensive warnings about the risks of dependence, the need to limit prescribing and advice about gradual withdrawal.

Integrated Care boards

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask His Majesty's Government what is theirpolicy justification for deciding not to define an integrated care board as a “relevant body” in regulation 2 of the National Health Service Commissioning Board and Clinical Commissioning Groups (Responsibilities and Standing Rules) Regulations 2012, with the effect that a range of patient rights formerly imposed on clinical commissioning groups are not now imposed on integrated care boards.

Lord Markham: The Health and Care Act 2022 (Consequential and Related Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2022 SI/634 has made consequential amendments to regulation 2 of the NHS Commissioning Board and Clinical Commissioning Groups (Responsibilities and Standing Rules) Regulations 2012, replacing references to Clinical Commissioning Groups with integrated care boards (ICBs). ICBs are now the statutory bodies responsible for patient rights.

Home Office

Migrant Workers: Digital Technology

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage skilled digital migrants to choose the UK as their preferred work destination.

Lord Murray of Blidworth: For the UK to become a science and tech superpower, it is vital that we are able to attract and retain top talent from across the globe. The race to attract the brightest and best, mobile and desirable digital talent is fierce, with many countries seeking to improve their attractiveness to this highly prized cohort.As well as nurturing homegrown talent and harnessing the unique skills base from our world leading universities, we are also attracting the best talent from abroad via our immigration system, which includes the Global Talent, Skilled Worker and High Potential Individual routes which all provide a generous catering for the digital sector.

al Qaeda and Islamic State

Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown: To ask His Majesty's Government what new counter-terrorist measures are being proposed to deal with the threat from IS and al-Qaeda against the UK.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: On Tuesday 18 July, the Home Office published an updated version of the UK’s counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST.This strategy identifies the persistent and evolving threat from Islamist terrorist groups overseas, and sets out our response to it working closely with international allies and partners. The document is available at gov.uk

Extradition: China and Hong Kong

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty's Government what, if any, extradition arrangements exist between the UK and (1) the People’s Republic of China, and (2) the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: The UK does not have a bilateral extradition treaty with the People’s Republic of China. The Foreign Secretary made a statement in the House of Commons in July 2020 on the status of the UK-Hong Kong Extradition Treaty, confirming its indefinite suspension.

Extradition

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty's Government how many people were extradited from the UK to another country to face trial in each year between 2019 and 2022.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: The number of persons extradited under Part 2 of the Extradition Act 2003 to face trial in another country in each year between 2019 and 2022 may be listed as follows:YearOn Accusation Warrants201923202017202117202220All figures are from local management information. As such they should be treated as provisional and subject to change.The figures do not include Scotland, which deals with its own extradition cases. Only those surrendered on accusation warrants are included. The figures also do not include persons extradited to requesting states on the basis of a conviction warrant, as this assumes they will not be facing trial in the requested state on return.Extraditions from the UK under Part 1 of the Extradition Act 2003 are handled by the National Crime Agency and statistics are published on their website:https://nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/what-we-do/how-we-work/providing-specialist-capabilities-for-law-enforcement/fugitives-and-international-crime/extradition-arrangements-with-eu-countries

Department for Education

Children: Literacy and Reading

Lord Watson of Invergowrie: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the research by Rebecca Simpson-Hargreaves Starting a new chapter – childhood literacy education, published on 25 May; and in particular, the conclusion that the focus on phonics creates a non-balanced approach to literacy and the related finding by the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) that only 29 per cent of English children say that they enjoy reading.

Baroness Barran: By ensuring high quality systematic synthetic phonics teaching, the government wants to improve literacy levels to give all children a solid base upon which to build as they progress through school and help children to develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information.The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) has carried out a comprehensive review of robust studies on the impact of phonics. It found that phonics is more effective on average than other approaches for early reading, when embedded in a rich literacy environment.Evidence has also shown that phonics is an important component in the development of early reading skills, particularly for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.The reading framework, published on 11 July 2023, is unequivocal in its support for reading for pleasure and provides guidance on how the best schools build on their strong phonics teaching to create a strong reading culture.Those reaching the expected standard in the phonics screening check (PSC) are substantially more likely to subsequently reach the expected standard in Key Stage 2 reading. In 2022, 85% of those meeting PSC expectations in Year 1 subsequently met Key Stage 2 reading expectations, compared to 18% of those who had not met PSC expectations in Years 1 or 2. Additionally, the strongest predictor of Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) performance was the Year 1 phonics check mark, for which a 1-point increase was associated with nearly a 4-point gain in PIRLS 2021 overall reading performance.In PIRLS 2021, 76% of surveyed pupils in England reported that they ‘very much like’ or ‘somewhat like’ reading.

Apprentices

Baroness Wolf of Dulwich: To ask His Majesty's Government what (1) number, and (2) percentage, of apprenticeship starts in England in 2022 were in occupations listed in the Migration Advisory Committee's shortage occupation list for that year.

Baroness Wolf of Dulwich: To ask His Majesty's Government what (1) number, and (2) percentage, of apprenticeship completions in England in 2022 were in occupations listed in the Migration Advisory Committee's shortage occupation list for that year.

Baroness Barran: The department does not publish apprenticeship starts and achievements by occupation but can use occupational maps from the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) to estimate occupation for apprenticeship standards. The occupational maps can be found here: https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/occupational-maps/what-are-the-occupational-maps/.In the 2021/22 academic year there were 68,400 starts on apprenticeship standards relating to occupations on the ‘Skilled Worker visa: shortage occupations’ list. The list can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/skilled-worker-visa-shortage-occupations/skilled-worker-visa-shortage-occupations. These starts represent 20% of all starts on apprenticeship standards. There were 24,300 achievements of apprenticeship standards on the list, representing 21% of all achievements on apprenticeship standards.Note:Figures are likely to be an underestimate. The occupational maps as published by IfATE relate each apprenticeship standard to the single occupation considered the closest match. This means some apprenticeships that might relate to more than one occupation, will not be identified as relevant.Apprenticeships have been mapped to the shortage occupations list solely by the IfATE occupational maps. The department does not have the information to align to the shortage occupations list further (for instance the department cannot identify the subject that an apprentice teacher specialises in).The ‘Skilled Worker visa: shortage occupations’ list is the version updated on 15 February 2022.